1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a recording apparatus and an ink cartridge for use in the apparatus, and more particularly to a recording apparatus having an ink jet recording head using ink to effect recording (an ink jet recording apparatus).
2. Related Background Art
As recording means used in a recording apparatus, the ink jet recording system has numerous advantages such a as very low noise during recording and capability of effecting recording on plain paper, and has been attracting more and more attention in recent years.
Also, a recording apparatus which reads image information from a medium (an original) bearing information and effects a series of image processing operations in which the image information is recorded on a recording medium such as paper is now an apparatus indispensable in the information processing system. Such a recording apparatus also has numerous advantages such as very low noise during recording and capability of effecting recording on plain paper. Therefore, the ink jet recording systems have been attracting more and more attention.
Above all, the ink jet recording system called the on-demand type which effects ink discharge during recording by the utilization of either a piezoelectric element or a magnetostrictive element which is an electro-mechanical converting element or an electro-thermal converting element has great advantage in that it does not require means for collecting unnecessary ink and a high voltage source for deflection, because it consumes ink only when necessary for recording.
With the recent spread of so-called OA instruments, the requirement for compactness and higher recording speed of recording apparatuses as image forming apparatuses has been rising. Therefore, even in recording apparatuses using the on-demand type ink jet recording system having various advantages, it is still strongly desired to introduce improvements to meet such requirements.
On the other hand, the ink jet recording apparatus, which generally uses liquid as a recording agent, may experience clogging or the like of ink in recording means such as a head and thus, improved operability of maintenance of the recording means is desired. Also, recording mediums such as paper may jam in the conveyance path and thus, improved operability of so-called jam treatment is desired.
Although the ink jet recording apparatus thus has various advantages, dust or paper powder of recording paper has adhered to the discharge ports of the recording head to cause clogging of such ports or cause mixing of bubbles with the interior of the discharge ports, or in the on-demand type ink jet recording apparatus, the frequent of use of a number of nozzles arranged in the recording head is not uniform. Therefore, irregularity of discharge conditions has sometimes been caused by an increase in the viscosity of ink. Also, ink has sometimes adhered to a recording medium when it has remained on the end surface of the recording head in which the discharge ports open.
Therefore, in the ink jet recording apparatus, it is requisite to effect a suitable operation for eliminating these various factors which degrade the quality of recording (hereinafter referred to as the discharge restoring operation).
However, in an ink jet recording apparatus, particularly an ink jet recording apparatus having a so-called full multi-type recording head in which discharge ports are arranged in a range corresponding to the width of the recording medium, a platen for controlling the recording surface is provided in proximately opposed relationship with the discharge ports over the full range in which the discharge ports are arranged. Therefore, it has been difficult to secure a large work space when effecting the discharge restoring operation, without making the apparatus bulky.
That is, in the discharge restoring operation as described above, it is generally practiced as an example to effect discharge with a restoring member joined or proximately opposed to the discharge ports.
However, as mentioned above, in the ink jet recording apparatus having a full multi-type recording head, the platen for controlling the recording surface is provided in proximately opposed relationship with the discharge ports over the full range in which the discharge ports are arranged, and this gives rise to the necessity of replacing the platen with the restoring member when effecting the discharge restoring operation.
An apparatus in which, when effecting the discharge restoring operation, the platen is greatly spaced apart from the recording head and in this state, the restoring member can be opposed to the recording head (for example, an apparatus disclosed in our Japanese Patent Application No. 65103/1985 (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 844,132, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,778)) has been proposed. However, to contribute to further compactness of the recording apparatus, it is desirable to make the range of movement of the platen or the restoring member small.
The restoring member receives ink during the discharge restoring operation, etc. and therefore, it is desirable to provide it with an ink absorbing member formed of a water-absorbent porous material. However, such an ink absorbing member is limited in its ink absorbing capacity (the amount of ink absorbed) and therefore, it is preferable to interchange it at suitable chances.
On the other hand, another member required to be interchanged in the ink jet recording apparatus is an ink tank for ink supply if the ink tank is of the interchangeable type. In the ink jet recording apparatus, when the interchange of both of the restoring member and the ink tank becomes necessary, two stages of discrete operations must be performed during the use.